Posted by Extra! Extra! at 10:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Frank McEntire is one of Utah's most prominent artists. Though he is also well known for his ancillary activities -- directing the Utah Arts Council, curating a number of museum exhibitions and writing art criticism for the Salt Lake Tribune for a number of years -- McEntire has made his mark on the state because of his stunning sculptures and innovative installations.

When Jason Lanegan, Curator and Gallery Director for Gallery 303 on the Brigham Young University campus, first saw McEntire's work he says he was "perplexed." Lanegan says that when he converted to the LDS church, he had to grow accustomed to the fact that members of the LDS faith do not generally employ many of the symbols used by other Christian denominations. So when he saw how McEntire, also a convert to the LDS church, made assemblages out of relgious objects and ordinary items, he wasn't sure what to make of them: "was this work disrespectful, sacrilege, or some act of devotion?" he wondered. Over the past six years, as he has gotten to know McEntire and his works, he says "I saw that each piece utilized subtle, yet clever juxtapositions that actually expanded upon and enhanced the religious symbol without diminishing its value. Each assemblage couples the sacred with the common as it explores different facets of faith and belief as they relate to issues of our day, often from a unique LDS perspective."

Lanegan has curated an exhibition of McEntire's work entitled "Reappropriated Passion," which opens this Friday, June 26th. The opening reception (6 - 8 pm) will be preceded by a panel discussion in the BYU Museum of Art's Auditorium at 4:30. Jason Lanegan, Jay Heuman (curator of exhibitions at the Salt Lake Art Center), and Joe Pasley (assistant Dean of Humanities at BYU) will discuss the use of religious iconography in art.

Reappropriated Passion will be at Gallery 303 in the Harris Fine Arts Center through July 15. The opening reception will be held June 26, from 6 to 8 pm.

Frank McEntire's website
BYU Museum of Art

Posted by Extra! Extra! at 11:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After weeks of rainy weather the clouds finally broke this weekend to pour sunshine down on the parking lot of Salt Lake's Neighborhood House, where individual artists and teams of artists faced off in an 18-hour long competition to create original works of art on the nine of the facility's nine garage doors.

The latest of 337 Project's art experiments, Face Off took the Project's original idea to paint the doors at Neighborhood House (which they did in 2008, dubbing it the Urban Gallery) and turned it into a timed event in which the artist's vied for $2000 in prize money. Over 800 people attended, watching the artists from the moment the first mark was scrawled across the gray doors on Friday afternoon, to the last frenzied sprays on Saturday evening.

The Chuck Landvatter and Dave Doman team walked away with both the Audience Choice award and the Juror's award. When the second award was announced Landvatter said he'd be using the money to take all the artists out for a party, a promise, he said, they should be sure to hold him to (something we hope to help them do by publishing this post).

images:

A young assistant works on Ruby Chacon's door.
Gailon Justus works on his door.
Chuck Landvatter working on his door on Friday afternoon.

Posted by Extra! Extra! at 09:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)